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JWM - The Search for the Perfect DAW EP
So, November 2024 was the month of me trying out new-to-me workflows in a couple other DAWs. How'd it go you may ask? Well, in case you missed a couple of other rants I made, here's what happened in a nutshell. (Mostly griping below, you've been warned.)
Logic Pro - The first two tracks I produced for the EP were in Logic Pro. The first was "Genji" (not to be confused with "The Journey", aka the track formerly known as "Genji") and "A Sneaky Ouverture". I encountered a couple bugs. One of them was when I used Poison-202 as a bassline, and the plugin crashed in Logic Pro, making me have to restart that patch from scratch. Then I had a problem with Studio Strings. I specified "pizzicato", and yet the MIDI played back the original patch with regular strings despite the keyboard playing the pizzicato just fine. (This second one was definitely user error on my part, so I just swapped that for KAPro Orchestral Dreams Pizzicato patch in Module Pro.)
The biggest frustration came in where I started working on "Diana's Theme", the Baroque-inspired piece. I started it in Logic Pro, where then LP4i decided to reset the parameters of my Flux Mini 2 instances (the plugin I use for "sidechain" pumping effect). I said "f-ck it" and restarted and finished the track in Nanostudio 2.
After that, I created "The House Party" in Cubasis 3, mostly using internal plugins and sounds (including that one drum machine plugin with 909 sounds). The only external sounds I used were a couple risers from Sounds of KSHMR Vol 4. Everything went fine there.
However, then I encountered another hiccup when I started my final track "High in the Sky". Due to a lack of a proper drum module for external samples, I used Koala. Koala would occasionally freeze on me when in the sample browser (although I was using the Files sample browser). 😖 And for whatever godforsaken reason, it loaded the same instance on the second Koala track rather than a fresh copy. I chalk it up to Koala's multiout functionality and user error once again, but I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. So I tried OneShot and Sitala, both apps which have no sample auditioning prior to loading it on a pad.
I tried Cubasis 3's minisampler, which is as barebones as it gets. It doesn't even have sample pitching or choke groups. So, again, I restarted from scratch and finished in Nanostudio 2.
All tracks were mastered in Logic Pro using the AI Mastering Assistant and sequenced in Cubasis 3 to form the final EP.
So what became of each DAW? I cancelled my Logic Pro subscription and deleted it off my iPad to free up 30gb space. Cubasis 3 is back to being relegated for vocal recording and processing, and mastering EPs "by hand". Nanostudio 2 is my current main DAW despite its lack of audio tracks, and I've already began my next EP in it.
In January (or sooner), I will buy and explore N-Track Pro 10 (the non-sub version), and I'll also explore Beatmaker 3. If you've any other suggestions for iPad DAWs for me to look at, I'm all ears. What I'm looking for is to...
- Establish a workflow, even if slow-going at first.
- Have a proper drum module like Slate.
- Have good automation options (despite how good NS2 is in many ways, NS2's automation is pretty basic, and it can't automate AUv3 effects).
- Easy to navigate and use piano roll.
- Audio tracks.
- Proper bussing options such as summing stacks in Logic Pro.
- Able to use external AUv3 plugins without crashing either the plugins or itself. (I love FLSM, but I can't live without using Doctor Vibe on my busses. NS2 is super stable with external plugins.)
That's about it about my DAW journey so far. If you made it this far, you're a legend for putting up with me. 😂 Cheers and enjoy the EP.
Comments
I'm not familiair with it, but did you try Auria (Pro)?
Ah, many years ago. I kinda forgot about it, but always worth trying again.
Thanks.
You're welcome. Good luck with finding the DAW that suits you the best.
Mercí. Hope I do find one that suits me well.
Did you apply AI compression to those images or something? The fonts are rendered really weird.
Nope. I simply wrote out the font in ProCreate, doubled the layer, turned the bottom layer dark, and applied gaussian blur.
EDIT: OH, now it dawned on me what you meant, lol. I simply did a quick cover in Wonder AI and applied the clear text on top. 😂
Great tracks. Still got it playing
BM3 is way too unreliable imo.
I’ve personally not found anything that’s 100% reliable, as some AuV3s aren’t reliable in many hosts either - just how making music on an iPad is imo.
I just make notes when needed and freeze Logic tracks regularly. I will often make a copy track and copy midi over rather than unfreeze anything! I have some AuV3s that simply won’t reopen if I close a project, so they have to be frozen.
Wish you luck on your DAW journey and keep making foot tapping tracks!
@jwmmakerofmusic - the interface is probably a little too different from the DAWs you're used to, but Audio Evolution is a very capable DAW and very inexpensive.
It might be interesting to check out, though tbh, you may get on with it too well unless you're patient about learning your way around it. It checks all the boxes in your post a bit up thread. There's little that it can't do. The developer is wonderful and very responsive here.
@Fruitbat1919 Thank you so kindly for the advice, well wishes and explanation of your process within Logic. Also I purchased BM3 years ago when it first released, and it was unstable even back then.
Currently I have my NS2 workflow with Cubasis for vocal recording and processing. Now that I'm back on iPad, I can return to Pro-DS for deessing thank goodness.
@wim I forgot about Audio Evolution tbqh. 😅 I do have it, but never could quite grok the UI and workflow. But, then again I couldn't quite grok Logic Pro at first and managed to learn enough to produce a couple tracks in it. I always do manage to purchase the IAPs in AE despite not using it just to support the developer who, as you said, is wonderful and responsive. I'm a pretty quick learner and will learn Audio Evolution.
So, update on the "search for the perfect DAW". I tried in earnest to use N-Track Pro 10 and ended up putting in for a refund (which I rarely do). The problem isn't that it couldn't render audio properly. It rendered audio just fine. It wasn't the interface as I took to it naturally for the most part. What happened is, I started producing a quick minimalist piece of Ambient, and it kept forgetting the settings of Twin 3. Same issue I faced in Logic Pro for iPad, but far more frequent. No good.
I restarted and finished my little Ambient piece in Cubasis 3. Next up, I'm going to try and produce a piece of Ambient in NS2 as part of the 1-synth, 4-instances challenge. Though to keep things fair, I won't be using Obsidian as my weapon of choice. I'm leaning towards Poison-202.
You don’t need to search.. you already found what works best for you
It’s obviously NS2+Cubasis combination .. just accept drawbacks and weak places, entire life is about this - nothing is perfect, it’s about making peace in you with things as they are.. Endless hunt after perfecrton is wasted life time.
Btw. automation in Auria is pure nigthmare and in AEM is also not ideal in my opinion in this area..
I’m on the same quest but still haven’t found the perfect DAW. I’m finally finishing my tracks using Logic Pro, despite numerous bugs and deliberately irritating limitations.
BM3 is the best DAW ever for me, but I gave up on it because it’s no longer maintained and now lacks some promised features that will never be implemented.
Have you tried Zenbeats? Although it’s sometimes incompatible with certain AUv3s and lacks some functionality, I really enjoy the workflow and philosophy behind this DAW.
Finally, Loopy Pro is the most promising DAW—it’s certainly the DAW of the future. However, in its current state, it still lacks essential functionality to be used as a fully-fledged DAW. That said, Michael is working hard, and Loopy Pro has a bright future ahead of it.
This is something I'm starting to realise here. I love NS2, and Cubasis 3 works great for vocal recording and for mastering. So I think I will stick to that combination.
I agree with this 100%! Loopy Pro has a bright future ahead of it as Michael continus to put his energy and focus entirely into it.
I tried Zenbeats a couple of times, and it just didn't click with me either of those times. Shame BM3 is no longer maintained. That sucks. I know at least NS2 will continue to be maintained by Matt.
Yeah, same on Zenbeats. I keep opening it, thinking I should like it, but I just can’t get going.
Similar experience here - it just seems kind of clunky and I find myself inexplicably slowed down by it.
What is a pure nightmare about automation in Auria?I do all my mix in Auria and it’s automation is of the easiest.
You know, what I really need is a kind of mini-DAW that works within AUM. It would be nice if it were both a midi and an audio thing, but it needn’t be. I need to be able to mix, in one application, the features of a clip launcher, loop arranger, and linear recorder, and have these functions tied or independent as the occasion suits. And it all needs to be selectable from other midi generators/surfaces.
As far as I can tell, there’s nothing that does all of this gracefully, without needing to stack instances or combine apps.
I know, I know, I should use an “actual” DAW, but I just don’t work that way. I can’t compose the way I do, using systems of generators and fx, in Logic or Cubasis. So I wind up cobbling together weird assemblages of sequencers and processors and controls and routing… but then get stymied when I try to glue together a longer arrangement.
It’s frustrating.
I think you have found the perfect DAW! Brings back sweet memories of me and Vince hanging at Mothers on Division Street. Wearing my polyester shirt and sayin’… Hey, any of you bitches wanna dance?
Great concept and I hope you eventually just grab one super workflow
JWM - the man of many daws
I've never used Auria beyond mastering (this was before AUv3 became a thing and Auria had the FabFilter vsts as IAPs), so I'm curious to know what makes it easy for you @ecou versus what makes it hard for you @dendy .
Perhaps Loopy Pro may be the answer once it gains MIDI loops.
We shall see. (LP has a regular timeline besides the loop donuts and other neat things geared for custom live performance control surfaces.)
I know that feeling of frustration.
Ha! Hilarious. 😆 But yeah, I think NS2 is the "perfect DAW for me" personally. Add Cubasis 3 for vocal recording and processing as well as mastering EPs and albums, and there I go.
Lol. I think my number-one workflow is NS2 to be honest.
Nod. I have high hopes for the big LP update.
@jwmmakerofmusic : Very informative post and I liked the track. Sorta like a modern tango, if you will. Nice ..Dang if only the Ns2 guy could have stuck with it … Also, I have a feeling that Logic Pro will eventually get the bugs worked out. Hopefully by next update .
I gave up on trying to find a perfect daw on iOS ….as far as sequencing goes.
NS2 is probably the best for it, but i decided to just record all my MIDI sequences into audio, and arrange that way. I was hoping ns2 would get audio tracks but that is not happening.
AUM never forgets any of my settings as far as i have noticed, while not a daw it sequences MIDI the same way joe Rogan gets rich.
I know not everyone is able to create their style of music the way i do but i just pretend its 1970 and im recording the Beatles to cassette and deal with the flaws and mistakes.